The MegaList of Actors Who Tried to Sing

Yesterday’s post spawned a discussion about actors who tried to make of a go of it in the music business. It was noted that Chuck Norris actually sang the theme to Walker, Texas Ranger, and I know I used to have the Paradise Alley Soundtrack, which featured an impossibly awful Sly Stallone on vocals, but I have to say that I drew a major blank on the topic and didn’t make much of a contribution.

When I got home, I started compiling a small list to post, and whole bunch googling later it’s three fucking AM. The list has grown from Gadzuki to Godzilla, and I’m dangerously close to comatose. As you peruse, if you find that you can’t remember where an actor might be from, mouse over their album to get a tool tip containing at least one show that they were in. If you find that you need even more info, most of the albums link to Amazon.

If you see me being walked out of the building tomorrow for sleeping at my desk, at least you’ll have this MegaList to remember me by. And to the poor bastard who might have to take over my job: again, I say, sorry I’m such a spaz.

first off, tatyana ali was on the “fresh prince of bel air”, not the “cosby show”. raven simone from cosby had an album. do kids from the mickey mouse club count? because then you have britney spears, justin timberlake, annette funicello, martika. don’t forget kathy lee gifford and juliette lewis, queen latifa. shit, i’m going to be up til 3am trying to help you out. i love these kind of challenges. jack black. crap…they keep coming. mark wahlberg. donny wahlberg. ice-t. ok, need to sleep, but i’m sure i’ll have more tomorrow.

1. The singer must must have a credited role before the year of his or her first album’s release. This eliminates singers turned into actors like Will Smith and all around entertainers like Dean Martin.

Your out of you mind. Some of these actors can sing One I know for sure is Eddie Mekka>(Carmine) I saw him Live and there was no faking. He’s a Singers Singer. Even Tony Bennett and Sinatra said he’s got some voice. So your full of it. Shame on you for taking cheap shots.
Danny

I don’t know if you should really include Mandy Patinkin and Shirley Jones since they both first appeared in musicals. Patinkin’s first major role was Che in Evita on Broadway and Jones’s first movie role was in the musical Oklahoma.

Wow, these are some astoundingly bad albums (the Don Johnson one especially.) But some of these aren’t all bad. Hollywood actors just abide by an I act-therefore I sing mentality, from time to time. And this just isn’t the case.

since from australia, i figured i should contribute as it seems to be a trend for b-grade australian actors to become c-grade australian singers 😀 (especially those off neighbours), here are a couple:
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Obviously Kylie, who you’ve got.

and the only non aussie I can think of – Anthony Keidis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers who had a brief shot at child acting in Jokes My Folks Never Told Me and even later in life in Point Break (He gets shot in the foot :D)

@Marianne: Thanks for the tips. I’ll look into them and add whatever I can.

@DJ: Glad you liked the list. Pam doesn’t count for this list because she didn’t release a full album and make a real go of being a singer. That’s why you don’t see cast albums included in the list. Sly Stallone sang “Too Close To Paradise” on the Paradise Alley soundtrack, which is superbly awful, but couldn’t be included, either.

Jack Black should count. His band is a legitimate band. Admittedly, I don’t prefer his music, but it’s not one of those one time comedy album like Adam Sandler.

Also, Miley Cyrus shouldn’t count, since her role as Hannah Montana is both an acting and singing gig. True, she didn’t do her own miley cyrus thing until after Hannah Montana, but she was still spitting out albums as Hannah Montana.

Probably my last comment, then I’ll shut up. What about Barbara Streisand (sp?) and Bette Midler?

Oh, did Gwyneth Paltrow ever come out with an album? And if the actor/actress did a soundtrack for a film, does that count? Like Nicole Kidman for “Moulin Rouge”?

This could possibly be the worst of all. I can’t guarantee because I haven’t listened to it yet, but I was at Best Buy the other day, and what should I see?

A Best Buy exclusive album from…

Kevin Costner and Modern West

Actually I searched and found a clip, and although I don’t like country or NASCAR… Costner ain’t all that bad. He doesn’t completely embarrass himself like some of the above listed names… Maybe not a great voice, but at least he’s in key.

Janet Jackson doesn’t count, she was a singer turned actress turned singer. according to wikipedia and numerous other sources including bios she strated singing in The Jackson 5 when she was 7 years old, thus a singer turned actress.

Hey, I’m truly sorry that I came to this party so late; I recently went through a “singing actors” phase wherein I purchased many of the recordings already mentioned. I think that the Milla album in particular is an excellent purchase, as is Crispin Glover’s oddity, assuming one can still find it. There are, however, three releases that I think deserve mention on this impressive page, and they are as follows:
1. Dead Man’s Bones is Ryan Gosling’s “band” (assuming one can call it that); basically he and a friend wrote and recorded their own music with a backing children’s choir, and it’s amazing. Look up “Pa Pa Power;” that’s Gosling singing.

2. Rip Van Boy Man by David Patrick Kelly: Remember that actor from “The Warriors” who improvised the famous line, “Warrrrioooorss…come out to plaaaaayyyyaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!” He was also in Twin Peaks and The Crow among other amazing roles. He’s not only one of my favorite actors, he put out this acoustic/live set a couple of years ago.

3. Tony Perkins by Tony Perkins: Sure he’s known mainly as the lead from “Psycho,” but Perkins was actually a pretty neat jazz singer in the vein of Chet Baker. In the early part of his acting career, his management decided to cross-market him, much like Clint Eastwood’s career concurrently. Anyone who really enjoys either jazz or the “singing actor” genre needs to pick this up immediately.

-Brittany Murphy (RIP)
-Julie Delpy
-Cheryl Ladd from Charlies Angels put out a few albums. The song “Think it over” got up to #34 on the Billboard music chart.
-Paris Hilton perhaps? She was in the movie “House of Wax” from 2005 before she put out her album “Paris” in 2006.
-Ricky Nelson from Ozzie and Harriet.

Wayne Brady is one TV dude who can REALLY, REALLY SING. If any of you watched ‘Whose Line Is It Any Way?’ a few years back he was incredible with his impersonations, singing style and fantastic improv.
Toni Collette (Muriel’s Wedding, etc.) is another incredible singer. Many on the list above are truly great singers. A few…not so! But they tried!! LOL

Danielle Anne Brisebois (born June 28, 1969) is an American actress, producer, songwriter and singer. In the 1990s she recorded two solo albums, Arrive All Over You and Portable Life, and was a member of the New Radicals. She is most recognized for her role as Stephanie Mills on the sitcoms All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker’s Place, as well as playing Molly in the original Broadway cast of Annie.

My bad you have David Faustino. I don’t know if this counts but Rose McGowan and Robert Pattinson sings and I don’t think both made any albums. Although 2 of his songs came out in Twilight and I think some other movie. Rose McGowan’s songs came out in Planet Terror, and win a date with tad hamelton. I think some other movie as well.

Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy) had an absolutely lovely album ”Music for elevators”. You knew he could sing if you see him in Buffy, but then again, he’s done like hundreds of readings for audiobooks…. Damn. i just realize i still have a crush on him after all these years.

The sick thing is…I was trying to track down celebrity CDs for a while before I found your amazing site. I have most of these albums and feel empty inside for being able to say that…thanks for the wonderful list though, now I have more to look for….

New Zealand-born, Canadian-raised Gale Garnett might count too, as she had several TV roles (including one on “77 Sunset Strip”) prior to breaking through as a singer in 1964 with the Grammy-winning “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine.” She also more recently was in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

As a fan of “All in the Family” I must mention Danielle Brisebois (Stephanie Mills). She later joined the New Radicals which had a 1998 hit with “You Get What You Give.” Brisebois is also a successful songwriter, composing hits such as “Pocket Full of Sunshine” by Natasha Bedingfield.

A couple more: George Maharis, from the early 1960’s series “Route 66” (he had a couple of albums), and John Schneider, from “The Dukes Of Hazzard”, who covered Elvis Presley’s “It’s Now Or Never”, and had a hit with it in the early 1980’s. Also, Ricky Nelson, who started out on mom and dad’s “Ozzie And Harriet” TV show, and had a tremendous musical career as a result. And George Chakiris, who was in the 1961 movie version of “West Side Story”, and recorded a couple of albums afterward.